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Kailiauk Village
Kailiauk Village and Kailiauk Island are part of a rich district ruled by the powerful Kiroboto Clan. Mfalme Moto Kutwa Kiroboto, aka Prometheus, is head of the House of Kiroboto. Kailiauk District is the capital of the Confederation of One Hundred Villages, of Lake Ushindi’s vast North Shore. The district’s main export is kailiauk tusk and hide. Honey is its second major export. Slavegirls is its third great export. THE PHYSICAL VILLAGE AND ISLAND Kailiuak is called a village more out of tradition than from accurate description, for city would be a more apt term. The island on which the settlement sits is a rough circle of approximately ninety square pasangs. The settlement sits in the center of the island in an extensive clearing, surrounded by old-growth tropical rainforest. The island functions as a large kailiauk ranch, where the herds are bred for tusk ivory and hides. It is from careful husbandry of these herds down through the generations that the Kiroboto family gained and maintains its wealth and power. The city itself is surrounded by a high bamboo palisade, as is the fashion in the Tropics, similar to the barrier which hems the fabulous port city of Schendi. The palisade is not meant to substitute for a defensive wall so much as to keep wild animals from invading the streets. At the western edge of the city is the kraal, the palace hut complex of Prometheus. THE KRAAL PALACE COMPOUND Pale translucent granite walls rise fifty feet up around the Palace complex. The walls are wide enough for four kaiila riders to gallop abreast. There are guard towers every thirty feet. Four gates with two towers flanking each. The Royal flag of the Ul snapping in the humid breezes off the vast lake. Within the walls are the shops of the central marketplace and craft halls, forges, bakeries, guard barracks, stables, taverns, public slave pens, residences for high-ranking officials and their minions, and, of course, the palace itself. The Royal Palace, also of imported light sand-hued granite, rises two stories into the air with watch towers reaching up another ten feet. The palace walls enclose over half a square pasang of area. The high and heavy doors of its main entrance are of iron faced with embossed bronze, which holds a green patina of weathering. Sharp-eyed and sharp weaponed askaris stand guard there every ihn of every day, each personally chosen for the honored duty by the Mfalme himself. The floors are marbled tiled, masterpieces of mosaic art, strewn with rare pelts, hides, and antique carpets of breathtaking artistry, possessing infinite detail. Murals, tapestries, paintings and carving of stone and wood grace the walls, the envy of any northern museum. Priceless statuary from antiquity to modern masters occupy niches and corners, stand watch in courtyards and bubble water from their mouths, or other orifices, in garden fountains. There are the slave quarters, the dormitories of the workers, the offices and suites of the officials, the apartments of the Royal family. The soaring and vast chamber of the Great Hall. And, in the secluded central courtyard garden, all by itself, the private quarters of the Mfalme. A giant round fround-thatched hut. THE MFALME'S RESIDENCE In the center of the palace's central courtyard, a quadrangle formed by the four wings of the magnificent structure, sits the private home of the Ubar. From the outside, the Mfalme's hut looks like a traditional Inlander house, if of monumental proportions. Round, with a slightly conical roof, the great support beams of koa hardwood, walls constructed of black bamboo poles and frond thatching, the roof of waterproofed thatch as well. Large glassless windows framed by bamboo logs. The dwelling sits on a raised tan stone platform surmounted by five steps which run the length of the front of the platform. Raised tree and flower beds form gardens all around the home, some sectioned off by bamboo walls. At the front entrance sits a huge carved likeness of the Mfalme's head in rendered stone. Inside the high doorway is an informal Reception Hall, or Audience Chamber. Curved partitions form the vast room into a half-circle. At the apex of the curve is a three-step dais upon which sits the silver and ivory couch of the Ubar. There is a sliding door panel behind the couch through which the Mfalme can enter and egress. The latch mechanism must be worked in the correct way else it will remain locked. Only the Mfalme himself knows how to work this particular lock. The floors are of inlaid tropical hardwoods, strewn with pelts, hides, and woven slave mats. A dance pit with pole sits in the middle of the chamber. As does a sturdy X-shaped cross of discipline. Doors in the curved walls lead off to corridors and other smaller room, as well as the main kitchen, which is equipped with many conveniences not common to the Jungle including running water, a cold room, and energy bulbs. The house is composed of many rooms, the Mfalme's sleep-chamber, apartments for family and guests, baths, and a pleasure garden harem chamber.